Because of the recent pandemic, HOA events have been greatly reduced. But now that a large part of the population is vaccinated, events are slowly picking back up. Many activities happen around communities and it can be hard to keep up with all of them. In addition, board members and managers invest a lot of time in preparing meetings and community activities. Despite their efforts, the lack of proper communication affects the participation and satisfaction of residents. HOA events are significant occasions to share information and to build a stronger sense of community.
In this blog post, we will talk about a tool that has helped many communities: An electronic HOA events calendar. We will explain how to use it to make everyone’s lives easier.
What is an HOA Event Calendar?
Put simply, an HOA Event Calendar is a place where community members can see everything that is going on in their HOA. There are many types of events that can be featured in it such as:
- Community Event (Cookout, Parade, Garage sale)
- Classes (Aqua aerobics, pilates)
- HOA Meetings (Annual Meetings, Committee Meetings)
- Maintenance or inspections
- Amenities booking, usage, or maintenanceÂ
Nowadays, for practical reasons only electronic calendars are recommended. This is because they allow many users to see the same information in one single place. This can be done through different devices such as a computer, a phone, or a tablet. Many companies provide online calendars for the general public. Some are free solutions and others are not. Choosing a provider that is specialized in HOAs is recommended. That is because they probably will be able to provide other community association-related services or features.Â
An HOA board member can use a calendar to let residents know about any gatherings. It is possible to make a one-off or recurring event. Usually, you can also include documents such as event flyers or even HOA meeting agendas. Some solutions also allow you to choose who can see the event. This can be convenient when you would like only one street or building to see a specific event, such as repaving or elevator maintenance.
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What are the benefits of using an HOA Event Calendar?
If you are an HOA board member, you know that planning a community event requires a lot of preparation.
It is without a doubt an overwhelming task. An electronic HOA events calendar is a powerful tool that helps you with different things. Such as:
Informed residents
It may sound obvious but most homeowners associations struggle with communication.
According to surveys, we have run, lack of communication is almost always mentioned as a key issue. In this case, if residents aren’t aware of a specific meeting, how can we expect them to attend?
This is frustrating for both homeowners and organizers. Imagine a resident goes to use an amenity and when they arrive realizes that it’s closed for maintenance. Or if a homeowner who loves community events but wasn’t aware of the summer cookout and ends up missing it.
We live in a world where people are busy and can easily miss important information. Despite emails or messages sent by the board, anyone can easily miss them.Â
By having an HOA communication tool such as a calendar, you can easily prevent these cases from happening. Everyone knows where to find the information.
This makes everyone responsible and avoids blaming. Without a doubt, this decreases conflict between the board and homeowners.Â
Save time
Using an HOA events calendar decreases the board of directors’ workload. They don’t have to send the same notice several times. They also don’t need to answer repetitive questions such as:
- What time does the event start?
- What time does the event finish?
- Where does this event take place?
- Can you please send me the agenda for this meeting?
- I’d like to book this amenity, how can I do that?
The list of questions is long. But the good part about a calendar is that you can add as much information as you’d like.
You can enter the time, the location, you can include documents, and more.Â
Increase transparency
Transparency means a lot in community associations. It is important to remember that board members are volunteers and homeowners need to be aware of their activities.
Lack of transparency often leads to conflicts and mistrust. Transparency and communication go quite along.
You can’t be transparent without open communication.
In that case, a calendar is a perfect tool as it allows everyone to know when any meetings happen.
Even though residents don’t participate in all board gatherings. It can be interesting for them to know that an executive meeting took place on x day.
Or a maintenance committee meeting does really happen every month and so on. Sad events such as the Surf Side Condo Collapse have alerted residents who are now even more reluctant to trust their leaders.
Being able to see that the board meets regularly can truly be seen as a foundation for trust.Â
Increase participation rate
A low participation rate can be the worst nightmare for an HOA. First, it means that residents are not engaged in community activities.
This can mean that something is wrong. Again, it is probably a communication issue. But it could also be something else and it is important to find out. Secondly, a low participation rate means a low quorum.
As an example, an HOA election requires a minimum participation rate (otherwise known as a quorum) in order for the votes to be counted and validated.Â
Again, people often don’t come to events because they forget or they didn’t get the information.
The great thing about a calendar is that it sends out automatic reminders when the due date and time are near.
It instantly increases the number of participants. Besides, knowing that their community has a calendar everyone will check it regularly to avoid missing anything.
It is more effective than sending an email to figure out when the next meeting takes place.
For the board, it makes their lives easier as it reduces drastically the number of questions they need to reply to.Â
Wrapping up on an HOA Events Calendar
An HOA Events calendar is a must-have for many since it offers a single place for all homeowners to easily access.
It centralizes all the information regarding any type of gatherings, happenings, or deadlines. Before implementing one make sure to review the different providers.
Many offer this tool as a single feature and that may not be the best option for HOAs. Usually, community associations do have a lot of other tasks that they would need to streamline.
So, considering an HOA software that offers a calendar feature may be more appropriate.Â
Now that you know all about HOA events calendars, would you like to know more about HOA Software?
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